Colorado Buffaloes running back Phillip Lindsay (23) picks up some yards on a run as Colorado State Rams safety Jamal Hicks (7) moves in during the first quarter on Sept. 1, 2017 during the Rocky Mountain Showdown in Denver, Colorado at Sports Authority Field.

Barnett, the last football coach to lead the Colorado Buffaloes to a conference title in 2001, was in his third season overhauling Northwestern’s program in November 1994 when rumor spread from player, to athletic trainer, to graduate assistant, to assistant coach and to Barnett that senior running back Dennis Lundy made an illegal cash wager on his own team losing big.

The allegation surfaced after Lundy, then Northwestern’s career-leading rusher, had fumbled on the Iowa 1-yard line in a 36-point defeat. Might Lundy have intentionally let go to ensure Northwestern wouldn’t cover the spread? Barnett needed proof. So he called Lundy into his office the following Monday.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision to strike down federal law prohibiting sports gambling outside Nevada brings to light the challenging enforcement of NCAA policy against its student athletes’ participation as individual states can decide whether to legitimize a formerly black-market industry.

Bill Saum was a longtime NCAA enforcement officer who served as its first director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities up until 2005. Saum is certain the NCAA’s efforts have increased awareness for players, coaches and administrators to the real-life consequences of sports betting. Making the practice legal on a state level, though, re-ups his concern for student athletes.

“It creates a challenging dilemma for the entire sports world,” Saum said. “But I think the college sports world needs to look at it differently than the professional sports world because we’re dealing with young people.”

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Colorado was considered one of 14 states in position to legalize sports gambling within two years of the Supreme Court’s decision, according to a 2017 study, but legislators and athletic administrators are still formulating how that might look as early as 2019. The office of the attorney general released a statement that it is “currently evaluating the implications” of legal sports wagering and that it “will work with the necessary state agencies to assess any impact it may have.” Colorado athletic director Rick George said CU will “wait and see where the NCAA goes … and we’ll take what their lead is and follow it.” Colorado State athletic director Joe Parker added: “It’s a bit of a voyage that I don’t think anybody has a clear picture on what the destination is going to look like.”

Proponents of legalized sports gambling, such as Brett Smiley, editor-in-chief of SportsHandle.com, consider this a win for college campuses. Smiley estimates illegal bookmakers will be out of business with legitimate betting operations in place.

“This activity is already occurring,” Smiley said. “Americans are accepting of it — and that doesn’t mean the NCAA is entitled to be concerned — but if it’s done in a legal framework in a legal setting, I think it can be done in a more secure fashion.”

Saum is less optimistic.

“The dirty little secret that’s not discussed anymore is the gambling on college campuses,” Saum said. “That’s not going to change with legal sports wagering, because I’m guessing there is going to be some age limit on gambling, and I’m guessing initially it’s not going to be via internet, and I’m guessing it’s going to be available in more major populated areas than (smaller college towns).”

Where Smiley and Saum agree is that the NCAA and college campuses must allocate more resources to ensure the integrity of the game in states with legalized sports wagering. How those funds are acquired and their extent, though, will be highly scrutinized.

Otto Greule, Allsport

Running back Dennis Lundy of the Northwestern Wildcats runs with the ball during a game against the Stanford Cardinal on Sept. 19, 1992. Stanford won the game 35-24.

In at least 11 states considering legal sports wagering, and not including Colorado, lobbyists from professional leagues have already pushed for what’s known as an “integrity fee,” according to The Charleston Gazette-Mail, which functions as a tax on all bets returned to the corresponding league. Even at just 1-percent, the rate proposed by the NBA and MLB in West Virginia, the financial windfall would be substantial considering that U.S. residents illegally bet an estimated $150 billion on sports each year, according to the American Gaming Association.

“If the NCAA were in a position to get their cut of that, which, say, could be $500 million dollars per year, would they actually say no?” Smiley asked. The Denver Post inquired the NCAA whether it would consider an integrity fee in states with legal sports gambling, but it declined to comment. The NCAA’s only action thus far has been the temporary lifting a ban that prevented championship events from being played in states that accept wagers on single games.

“For the NCAA, it’s going to add another layer on to what’s already a very deep set of issues involving the massive amount of money in big-time college sports,” said Roger Pielke, director of CU’s Sports Governance Center. “If there are going to be billions of dollars more made off college sports, it’s just going to add more and more pressure for wholesale change.”

Which brings us back to Lundy. The former star Northwestern tailback and three teammates were indicted in 1998 on federal perjury charges related to placing illegal sports bets through a campus bookie. Why would Lundy gamble away his football reputation? The Denver Post was unsuccessful in reaching Lundy for comment, although Barnett recalled a modest explanation.

Lundy sought a $400 payout for the cost of an airline ticket from Tampa Bay so his mother could watch him play.

As amateur athletics takes yet another step toward professionalization, Barnett hopes today’s college football coaches can avoid the difficult circumstances he once faced at Northwestern.

“It’s going to make it difficult to police and make sure that it doesn’t have an impact on the game,” Barnett said. “It was already hard. But I think this really makes it difficult. Hopefully, they can find a way to do it. It really comes down to doing the right thing or doing the wrong thing.”

This week marks a crossroads in the Colorado men’s basketball season. Following a six-day break between games, the Buffs take on Utah on Sunday in Salt Lake City with hopes for their first NCAA tournament bid in three years on the verge of vaporizing.

After its first practice since Saturday's home loss against Washington, the best news for the struggling Colorado men's basketball team is that point guard McKinley Wright is likely to return at some point this season.